Book Description

Anyone stuck in the rat-race of living paycheck to paycheck, enslaved by the house mortgage and bills, will appreciate this breath of fresh air. Learn about the methods that have created more than a few millionaires. This is the first abridged miniature edition of Rich Dad Poor Dad. The full-length edition has sold millions as a New York Times bestseller. As proven by the runaway success of The Secret and like titles, changing one’s thinking to influence one’s fortune sells big, and forms the basis of rich dad’s advice. Learn to think like a rich dad and let your money work for you!

Anyone stuck in the rat-race of living paycheck to paycheck, enslaved by the house mortgage and bills, will appreciate this breath of fresh air. Learn about the methods that have created more than a few millionaires. This is the first abridged miniature edition of Rich Dad Poor Dad. The full-length edition has sold millions as a New York Times bestseller. As proven by the runaway success of The Secret and like titles, changing one’s thinking to influence one’s fortune sells big, and forms the basis of rich dad’s advice. Learn to think like a rich dad and let your money work for you!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Personal-finance author and lecturer Robert Kiyosaki developed his unique economic perspective through exposure to a pair of disparate influences: his own highly educated but fiscally unstable father, and the multimillionaire eighth-grade dropout father of his closest friend. The lifelong monetary problems experienced by his "poor dad" (whose weekly paychecks, while respectable, were never quite sufficient to meet family needs) pounded home the counterpoint communicated by his "rich dad" (that "the poor and the middle class work for money," but "the rich have money work for them"). Taking that message to heart, Kiyosaki was able to retire at 47. Rich Dad, Poor Dad, written with consultant and CPA Sharon L. Lechter, lays out his the philosophy behind his relationship with money. Although Kiyosaki can take a frustratingly long time to make his points, his book nonetheless compellingly advocates for the type of "financial literacy" that's never taught in schools. Based on the principle that income-generating assets always provide healthier bottom-line results than even the best of traditional jobs, it explains how those assets might be acquired so that the jobs can eventually be shed. --Howard Rothman

From Library Journal

Reissuing a self-published best seller.Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

When he isn't engaged in his nearly incessant showboating, Kiyosaki actually gets down to some practical, all be it general, guidance on how to think about money:

* Probably the greatest insight is how to think about assets and liabilities. A million accountants scream in anguish, but a primary residence, with a large mortgage, high taxes and high fixed costs to top it off, is not an "asset" for Kiyosaki because it doesn't produce a positive cash flow. Instead, he lists several items, such as rental property, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, business partnerships with limited involvement, promissory notes and royalties (p. 89), that generate money and should be invested in.

* Don't get into large debt positions for non-necessities. Buy your luxury items for cash (p. 176). This is part of any sound financial planning and is taken to its logical endpoint by the authors of "The Millionaire Next Door."

* Watch out for the tax effect of your sales of real estate. In this sense, the book is out of date, since the tax laws were changed in the late 90s to permit up to $250,000 in capital gains ($500,000 for married couples) from the sale of a primary residence be exempt from federal tax, under certain circumstances. No longer must you rely on the 1031 "trading up" provision he describes, at least not exclusively.

* Fear can be utilized as a great motivator to act, as opposed to fear causing you to be a deer in the headlights of life.

However, before we all run off to leverage real estate to become gentlepeople of leisure, let's try to remember a few things.

* This book is written for one reason: to be earn the author money. Kiyosaki is even somewhat up-front about it, noting that royalties are one of the best assets for a person to have (p. 89). Therefore, you should be skeptical -- not cynical but merely skeptical -- about the advice he gives.

* For every Kiyosaki there's a multiple of people who crashed and burned in stock and real estate speculation, and the difference between the author and those people is due in some measure to chance.

* It is much easier to invest in undervalued, illiquid assets in downturns when you're already sitting on a pile of cash.

* Dropping our current jobs to do Kiyosaki's kind of analysis and investing does not make sense for most of us. After all, our jobs are, in Kiyosaki's sense, an "asset" because they generate positive cash flow.

* The principle of "paying yourself first" (p. 172) is not something to be applied inflexibly. Kiyosaki is giving everyone advice from a position that may not be applicable to everyone (p. 176). Yes, the idea of saving a portion of your income is a good idea, even an outstanding idea. But stiffing the tax man and your creditors is not, and unless you operate a business or are engaged in a profession where you can rapidly earn extra cash, it's not a good idea to try to scare yourself into coming up with a brilliant plan to pay them off. You might wind up with a solution like George Segal and Jane Fonda in "Fun With Dick and Jane."

* Beware the author's personal biases. If he truly believed that America is "on the course" to collapsing because the difference between the haves and have-nots is widening (p. 48), he'd be investing in foreign real estate, in gold and would hold a lot of money in cash. He's not. In fact, he does the exact opposite. He bets on American's long-term stability by purchasing real estate.

* The author casually talks about extremely risky investments, such as $5,000 investments returning $1,000,000, as if these were almost ordinary (p. 78). That's highly misleading. He does mention in the book that out of ten limited investments, a preponderance of his business investments "go nowhere" or completely fail, but that should be highlighted when those stratospheric returns are mentioned.

Overall, Kiyosaki has some good advice. However, do not think that you are likely to duplicate his personal experience to success. If you look at how he made his money, he essentially got rich holding real estate in the 70s, in Hawaii, as well as being one of the state's best salesmen. He was at the right place at the right time, with a particular important skill. He then had sufficient money in the 80s and 90s to be able to invest in real estate in the economic downturns. So his position does not correspond to most of ours.Read more ›

I know this book was a best-seller and has a 4.5 star average on Amazon. This does not make it good, and I will explain why.First, most people focus on his inspiration and pointing out that you need to save money instead of spending it. To put it bluntly, "Duh." To be more constructive, there are much better books on this subject - for instance, "Your Money or Your Life." It's easy to spout platitudes about why you should save, but Kiyosaki doesn't tell you how.Second, his real estate advice. Kiyosaki emphasizes making money in real estate, since it seems clear that is how he made his fortune. But he does a terrible job explaining that as well. People have lost fortunes in real estate; Donald Trump went from being a billionaire to losing most of his empire. It isn't easy. Kiyosaki himself says that winners learn from their failures; where are his failures?Perhaps he should refer people to other books about real estate, but one of the books he recommends was written by a man who had a half-million dollars in tax liens filed against him and declared bankruptcy - all before "Rich Dad" was written. That isn't exactly the kind of advice I was looking for!Third, experts in the fields he talks about generally agree that his advice is bad. A review by an experienced real estate professional is here: [...] His advice on making money via IPOs is completely wrong; you can't invest that little money so close to the IPO filing for such a large discount. It just isn't done that way.Fourth, his emphasis on making money. I like money, don't get me wrong. Like most people reading this review, I'd like to be a millionaire. But, I think, there is an underlying current of meanness in Kiyosaki's book. The way his "rich dad" kept people waiting and intimidated them with his power, the way Kiyosaki himself resented being left out of the parties held by the "rich kids." It's disturbing.Fifth, for all the talk about spending less, Kiyosaki clearly lives up the high life (or claims to.) Rolex watches (why?), Porsches (again, why?)... all these are types of liabilities, which he spends most of the book saying you should avoid. It's flash, which I think ties into his rejection as a 'poor' child, and also meant to impress the reader by letting them think that, someday, they too will be able to show off their wealth.Most millionaire's aren't this way. "The Millionaire Next Door", which cannot be recommended highly enough, has interviews with real millionaires who live modestly - in fact, probably living on less than you are - and yet they accumulated their fortunes through hard work. (Real estate and owning your own business qualifies as hard work!) It is a much more educational book, but is also more inspiring to see people like yourself who did make it.Summary: this book has some decent information in it (but there are better books), is inspirational at points (but inspirational books are a dime a dozen!), and didn't really do squat for me.Read more ›

I just purchased Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Retire Young, Retire Rich and Rich Dad's guide to investing. I also have the tapes from RD, PD, CFQ, and RDGTI. These excellent programs by RTK have already made a profound change in my personal and financial life. They are a must for anyone who wants success.Two others are Millionaire Next Door and The Millionaire Mind.

Where do you learn about money? School? No! Too busy memerizing war dates. Parents? Possibly, but not likely.If you dislike this book you have probably bought into the Great American Lie of go to school, get a job and after 40 years you get a gold watch. And you are in rat race my friend.I have a gold watch already. It says to Barry Kaufman the greatest guy in the world from Barry Kaufman the greatest guy in the world. I didn't have to wait 40 years for mine or sell my soul to corporate America for a little cup of soup (called wages)I also suggest reading Who Stole the American Dream, Wave 4 and Turner, Turner, Turner: The King of Network Marketing.

I spent 15 years working for a department store chain. The company transferred me 27 times after I enrolled in their management trainee program. It took awhile, but I realized that I would never reach my goals or have control in my life as long as I stayed with this company.During the time I was being transferred, I was able to create many business contacts and fortunately found an opportunity with a network marketing company. I also began to invest in real estate rental properties and accumulated some profitable investments.After reading Rich Dad Poor Dad a few years ago, I realized that it was time to leave the corporate world and start my own business.I agree with the concepts in this book. You must have your own business. You must be self reliant. No employer will ever take care of you as well as you will.

More About the Author

Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad - the international runaway bestseller that has held a top spot on the New York Times bestsellers list for over six years - is an investor, entrepreneur and educator whose perspectives on money and investing fly in the face of conventional wisdom. He has, virtually single-handedly, challenged and changed the way tens of millions, around the world, think about money.In communicating his point of view on why 'old' advice - get a good job, save money, get out of debt, invest for the long term, and diversify - is 'bad' (both obsolete and flawed) advice, Robert has earned a reputation for straight talk, irreverence and courage.Rich Dad Poor Dad ranks as the longest-running bestseller on all four of the lists that report to Publisher's Weekly - The New York Times, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today - and was named "USA Today's #1 Money Book" two years in a row. It is the third longest-running 'how-to' best seller of all time.Translated into 51 languages and available in 109 countries, the Rich Dad series has sold over 27 million copies worldwide and has dominated best sellers lists across Asia, Australia, South America, Mexico and Europe. In 2005, Robert was inducted into Amazon.com Hall of Fame as one of that bookseller's Top 25 Authors. There are currently 26 books in the Rich Dad series.In 2006 Robert teamed up with Donald Trump to co-author Why We Want You To Be Rich - Two Men - One Message. It debuted at #1 on The New York Times bestsellers list.Robert writes a bi-weekly column - 'Why the Rich Are Getting Richer' - for Yahoo! Finance and a monthly column titled 'Rich Returns' for Entrepreneur magazine.Prior to writing Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert created the educational board game CASHFLOW 101 to teach individuals the financial and investment strategies that his rich dad spent years teaching him. It was those same strategies that allowed Robert to retire at age 47.Today there are more that 2,100 CASHFLOW Clubs - game groups independent of the Rich Dad Company - in cities throughout the world.Born and raised in Hawaii, Robert Kiyosaki is a fourth-generation Japanese-American. After graduating from college in New York, Robert joined the Marine Corps and served in Vietnam as an officer and helicopter gunship pilot. Following the war, Robert went to work in sales for Xerox Corporation and, in 1977, started a company that brought the first nylon and Velcro 'surfer wallets' to market. He founded an international education company in 1985 that taught business and investing to tens of thousands of students throughout the world. In 1994 Robert sold his business and, through his investments, was able to retire at the age of 47. During his short-lived retirement he wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad.